Little League Baseball Rule Myths

Little League Rule Myths

Many misunderstandings on the field are the result of "Everybody Knows That..." rules myths. Listed below are a collection of common mis-beliefs about Little League baseball rules. Each of these statements are false. Clicking on each link will explain the correct ruling.

Reality:
This is probably the single most misunderstood and misapplied rule in Little League. There are any number of variations of the "must slide" myth. "The runner must always slide at home." "The runner must slide if the defense is making a play on him." "The runner must slide once he's been put out during a double play attempt."
None of them are true.
There is never any situation in which a runner is required to slide. The relevant rule is:
7.08(a)(3) -- Any runner is out when ... the runner does not slide or attempt to get around a fielder who has the ball and is waiting to make the tag.
First, notice that the runner has two options -- he or she may slide, or he or she may attempt to get around the fielder. The choice is up to the runner. Second, notice that the rule says that, if the runner does not elect to slide, that he or she must attempt to get around the fielder. It does not say that the runner must not contact the fielder. Consider a common play:
The catcher is standing just off the line as the runner approaches. The catcher fields the ball, and starts to step across the line to tag the runner. The runner swerves to his right, trying to avoid the catcher, but the catcher continues his motion toward the runner, and the two collide.
The fact that contact occurred does not mean that the runner is automatically out. In this situation, by swerving, the runner satisfied the rule -- he or she attempted to get around the fielder. Of course, if the runner goes more than three feet to either side attempting to avoid a tag, then he or she can be called out under Rule 7.08(a)(1), but that is another matter entirely.
Finally, read the last half of the rule again. For this paragraph to even apply, the fielder must have the ball and be waiting to make the tag. Thus, for example, if the runner arrives just as the ball is hitting the catcher's glove, this rule probably doesn't apply either. Only once the catcher is in position to make the tag does the runner acquire the obligation to slide or attempt to avoid. In fact, if contact occurs before the fielder has the ball, then the fielder is probably guilty of obstruction.
Little League has made this abundantly clear in Make The Right Call, a Little League publication with commentary on how the rules should be applied. In there, it says:
There is no "must slide rule." The rule is, "slide or attempt to get around." The key in this situation is "fielder has the ball and is waiting to make a tag." If the fielder (any fielder, not just the catcher) does not have the ball, and there is a collision, you CANNOT call the runner out. However, if the umpire determines that the runner deliberately attempted to injure the fielder, the umpire could eject the runner for unsportsmanlike conduct.
The first part bears emphasizing. Repeat after me:
There is no "must slide" rule
There is no "must slide" rule
There is no "must slide" rule

Much of the confusion surrounding this probably comes from a misunderstanding of what a foul tip actually is:

A FOUL TIP is a batted ball that goes sharp and direct from the bat to the catcher's hands and is legally caught. It is not a foul tip unless caught and any foul tip that is caught is a strike, and the ball is in play. It is not a catch if it is a rebound, unless the ball has first touched the catcher's glove or hand. A foul tip can only be caught by the catcher.

Thus, it is only a foul tip if the catcher catches the ball. A ball that hits the bat and goes straight back to the backstop is a foul ball not a foul tip.

Reality:
Interference is generally an act by an offensive player who hinders a defensive player. When a defensive player hinders an offensive player, the correct call is obstruction, not interference.
In addition, however, for obstruction to be called, the base runner must, in fact, be hindered. For example, if the catcher is set up across the line while the runner is still rounding third base, there is no obstruction, because the catcher has not yet impeded the progress of the runner. Only when the runner collides with the catcher, or is forced to alter his or her path to avoid or get around the catcher, does obstruction occur.
Finally, once the catcher acquires the ball, he or she may legally block the path of the base runner. Obstruction only applies to a defensive player who is not in possession of the ball.

Reality:The hands are not part of the bat. They are part of the arm.
Don't believe it? Try this. Hold a bat in your hand at arm's length. Now open your hand. Did the bat hit the ground? Good, gravity works. Where is your hand? I'll bet it's not on the ground. So your hand is not part of the bat.
When a player is hit on the hand by a pitch, the umpire must evaluate the situation just as he would if the pitch had hit him elsewhere:

If the pitch was in the strike zone the ball is dead, runners return to the last legally touched base, and the batter gets a strike. If that was the third strike, the batter is out.

If the batter was in the process of swinging, just as in the previous case, the ball is dead, runners return to the last legally touched base, and the batter gets a strike. If that was the third strike, the batter is out.

If the pitch was not in the strike zone and the batter was not swinging at it, but the batter makes no attempt to get out of the way, the ball is dead, runners return, a ball is charged to the batter and he/she must continue to bat. (Unless that was ball four.)

If none of the above conditions apply, the ball is dead, the batter is awarded first base, and runners advance only if forced.

Remember - when a batter is hit anywhere by a pitch, the ball is immediately dead, whether or not a base award is made.

Reality:The direction in which the batter-runner turns in overrunning first base is completely irrelevant.
7.08(c) EXCEPTION: A batter-runner cannot be tagged out after overrunning or oversliding first base if said batter-runner returns immediately to the base.
Thus, the critical thing is not the direction in which the batter-runner turns, but what he or she does immediately after the turn. If the batter-runner makes any movement towards second, he or she has forfeited his or her protection. If he or she comes directly back towards the base, however, he or she is protected until the base is touched, or until some other move towards another base is made.

For the purposes of a fair/foul determination, home plate is no different from the ground. As it happens, all of home plate is infair territory, so if a batted ball touches it, it has merely struck part of fair territory.

A ball that touches the ground before passing either first or third base is not yet a fair or foul ball. It is merely a ball over fair or foul territory. This may seem like just a bit of semantics, but the distinction is very real. The ball does not become fair or foul until it either "settles" (stops rolling) or touches something other than the ground - a player, a fence, etc. At that time, the ball is then rendered fair or foul based on its position at the time it settles or is touched. How the ball got there (the path it followed before being touched) has nothing to do with the fair/foul determination.

Under normal circumstances a pitcher gets a maximum of eight pitches between innings. The pitcher is only allowed a maximum of one minute in order to complete these pitches, however. Thus, if the pitcher is slow he or she may not be able to complete the eight pitches before the one minute elapses.

The one minute clock starts at the end of the previous half-inning, that is, when the third out is made. Thus, the time for the pitcher and catcher to take their positions comes out of the one minute that the pitcher is allotted.

Little League umpires rarely time teams with a stopwatch. If the pitcher and catcher (or another player wearing the required helmet/mask/throat guard) take the field promptly and don't dawdle between pitches, then umpires usually allow them the full eight pitches, even if it takes somewhat longer than a minute. If the catcher is slow getting his gear on and the defense doesn't send another player out in his place, or if the defense has a two-minute rah-rah huddle before taking the field, an umpire can limit the number of pitches allowed, or even eliminate them completely once the one minute period is exceeded.

Conversely, if weather or other game conditions warrant it, an umpire can grant a pitcher extra warm-up pitches. In particular, if a pitcher is injured and his replacement has not had time to warm up, the umpire may allow the replacement as many pitches as the umpire sees fit.

There is no rule that explicitly deals with the foot touching home plate. The relevant rule says:

6.06(a) A batter is out for illegal action when ... hitting the ball with one or both feet on the ground entirely outside the batter's box.

Thus, in order for this rule to be invoked, the batter's foot must be completely outside the batter's box. If any part of his or her foot was on a line of the batter's box, this rule does not apply.

Umpires should remember that the batter's box is only four inches from home plate in Majors and below, and only six inches in Juniors and above. This distance is far shorter than the length of most players' feet. Therefore, it is quite possible for a batter to have part of his or her foot in contact with the plate and still have the heel touching the line.

Confusion over this rule is likely due to the fact that there are other baseball and softball rule sets (e.g. "Federation" aka High School) in which the batter's foot touching home plate is explicitly covered. It isn't in Little League, however.

Actually, if the batter breaks his wrists when swinging, it should result in a trip to the Emergency Room. Sorry, couldn't resist!

Whether or not a batter actually attempted to hit a pitch is completely and utterly a matter of judgment on the part of the umpire. There is no single "hard-and-fast" rule that can be applied. A player can easily attempt to hit the ball without breaking his/her wrists. Think about a bunt, or the "slap bunt" that is sometimes used in softball - players rarely break their wrists while doing this. Conversely, it is possible (although unlikely) that a player who swings very, very early, could break his wrists and then pull the bat back enough to convince an umpire that it was not a legitimate attempt to hit the ball.

Granted, in the vast majority of cases, if the batter breaks his wrists the umpire will call a strike. The point to be taken away is that this is neither a requirement, nor the sole determining factor.

A CATCH is the act of a fielder in getting secure possession in the hand or glove of a ball in flight and firmly holding it before it touches the ground providing such fielder does not use cap, protector, pocket or any other part of the uniform in getting possession ... In establishing the validity of the catch, the fielder shall hold the ball long enough to prove complete control of the ball and that release of the ball is voluntary and intentional.

You will see that no specific time limit is stipulated. The critical elements here are "secure possession" and "complete control" which are entirely a judgment call on the part of the umpire.

On one hand, fielder may be considered to have secure possession even though he holds onto the ball for far less than two seconds - consider the outfielder who catches a fly ball and immediately whips the ball back into the infield. The ball was probably in the fielder's glove or hand for much less than two seconds. On the other hand, a fielder could snow-cone a ball on a dead run, stagger for several more steps, fall and have the ball squirt free and not have it considered a catch, even though more than two seconds elapsed between the time the ball went into the glove and when it came out.

"Voluntary release" is one of the key measures that an umpire will use to judge whether or not the player is considered to have control of the ball. In the first case mentioned above, the outfielder deliberately removed the ball from his glove and threw it back to the infield. In the second case, however, the fielder did not intend for the ball to drop out of his glove. Thus, the "voluntary release" in the first case demonstrated "secure possession" and "control," while the "involuntary release" in the second case demonstrated a lack of control.

Despite the phrase "and that release of the ball is voluntary and intentional", voluntary release is not the only criteria an umpire will use. Suppose Johnny's in right field, and catches a fly ball for the final out in the Little League World Series. He runs back to the infield and jumps into the arms of another player. As he does so, the ball slips from his glove and lands on the ground. Does the fact that he did not intend to drop the ball mean that this wasn't a catch? Of course not. In carrying the ball back to the infield, he clearly demonstrated control, voluntary release or not. Thus, while voluntary release is one of the criteria an umpire will use to judge a legal catch, it's not the only one.